Not P but Moby-Dick (18)

[Ian Livingston]

...bind me = keep me from falling in with evil influences

Like Odysseus is bound to the mast of his ship so that he can witness the
song of the Sirens and not follow their call.

On Fri, Sep 29, 2023 at 1:55 PM Mike Jing <gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Also from Chapter 38:
>
> but ’tis not me! that horror’s out of me! and with the soft feeling of the
> human in me, yet will I try to fight ye, ye grim, phantom futures! Stand by
> me, hold me, bind me, O ye blessed influences!
>
> "that horror’s out of me" means that horror is coming from outside of me,
> is that correct? Again, some of the existing translations seem way off
> base.
>
> Also, the "blessed influences" are positive ones that Starbuck is summoning
> to help himself, is that correct? A couple translations interpreted these
> as evil influences, which doesn't seem right. They are probably confused by
> the word "bind", which is quite interesting. What does "bind" mean here
> exactly?
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